Heretofore, the bulk handling of various products, such as corn syrup, fructose and the like, has always been fraught with problems due to certain inherent characteristics of the product itself, such as viscidity, viscosity, etc., and the environment, such as low temperature, etc., within which the product is being handled. In the past when handling such a product, it has been customary to utilize high capacity, heavy duty pumps which must be capable of being readily cleaned, normally by being wholly or partially disassembled. Because of the heavy load to which the pump is subjected, an inordinate amount of time and effort is expended for servicing and repairing same, and the energy input required to operate the pump is excessively high. Furthermore, such pumps must be capable of operating under widely varying climatic conditions and at the same time be capable of withstanding abusive treatment.
In addition to the problems associated with the equipment utilized in handling the product, an excessive amount of manual labor was involved requiring the efforts of numerous personnel. The attractiveness of the product, when corn syrup or fructose, to bees and other insects oftentimes interferes with the manual operation of connecting and disconnecting the duct with respect to the railroad tank car and/or the tank truck because in the past a large amount of product spillage resulted.
Where preheating the product was necessary to facilitate handling thereof, certain portions of the product became scorched, or otherwise deleteriously affected, thus materially impairing the utility and marketability of the product.
Even in prior instances where the pump was operating properly and the product was in a readily flowable state, an inordinate amount of time was required to transfer the product from a tank car to a tank truck.
Furthermore, in prior systems for handling such products special and costly tools and equipment were oftentimes required and the system was incapable of accommodating tank cars and trucks which varied widely in size and shape.